Lubricant recovery for cutting machines and the like



April 17, 1951 F. A. zA'ENKERT 2,549,657

LUBRICANT RECOVERY FOR CUTTING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 2, 1947 mum Fha-pemex H ZHENKERB JNVENToR.

'PafentdApn 17, 195i d t,... l

LUBRICANT RECOVERY FOR yCUTTING l -f MACHINES AND THE LIKE l Frederick A. Zaenkert, Green Hills, Ohio, assignor to. `The .Cincinnati Butchers Supply Corpora- 4, y. tion,V Cincinnati,` Ohio, a corporation of Ohio .f Application January 2, 14947, serial No. 719,659

This invention relates to lubricant recovery' in connection with cutting machines and the like. While the invention1 is,-'susceptiblel to many and varied-applications,1 vshall loles'criberjit particularly in connectioniwith `a cutting machine of the type used in the butcheringindustry'in the cutting or mincingof meat. Y

In machines ofthe class above outlined, a rotating bowl'is `drivcngby a large annularyvorm gear fastened to the.bowl and cooperating `with a wormto which power is applied. lWhen lubricantr is supplied to the'rworm, some of the 1ubricant is picked` up-by the worm gear as it rotatesfand'is carried on around the machine wli'ere, with present typesof construction, the

Y lubricant drips onto the floor, creating acondition which is at once unsightly and dangerous, fas Wellasbeingwasteful 1f-.0115. f

It is an'objectvof myinvention, therefore, to provide a construction' whereby lubricant carriedoff by the wormqgearrfi'x recoveredlviwithout beingpermitted,todropontorthe floor. It is a @.further-.objectof myninvenuonfto return such lubricant to the region where lubricant is initially supplied.

Itis a further object of my invention to so construct thev worin gear that any lubricant dripping therefrom will not drip beyond a certain point radially inward from the periphery of the gear.. A stillfurther object of myr invention includes the provision of a gutter in operative relationship with theworm gear and 1 extendinginwardly beyond the point mentioned above, at which the lubricant is forced to'drip, 'Ihese and other objects of my invention which will be pointed out more in detail hereinafter or whichlwill be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accom- V.plish by that certain construction and'arrang'ement of parts, of which I shall "now' describe an exemplary embodiment. Y Referencemay lbe had to the drawings formi- V ing a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a typical machine to which my invention may be'applied'. *Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the same taken on the line v2-2 .ofV

Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 1.

-Figure 4 is a detailed View on a greatly enlargedscale of the left-hand end of Figure 2.

I have shown my invention applied specifically to a cutting machine as disclosed and claimed in Patent 2,177,600 in the name of O. C. Schmidt.

v claims. (ci. 12M-'13) v but it will be understood that the invention is applicable in its broadest aspects to'Y any machine r in which alarge vgear rotates in a, horizontal :plane` andv in whichlubricant'is,applied in the lubricant may be carried around by the teethof region 'of theworm or drivingpinion so that the v.said large gear. L l

Theparticular machine illustrated comprises generally a frame IIlrin which a bowl II is ro- Ytatably mounted. The bowl rides on ball bearings I2 and is provided with guiding means indicated generally at I3. Bolted or otherwiseA v fastened to the bowljII, as at I4is a large 15': Whilethe 'description of the machine itself is` annular worm gear I5 whichjis driven by means ofawornilonashaftll' g unnecessary because it forms vno part vof my present invention, it maybe stated `that itv in- .cludes a cutting head'comprising'a'number of cuttingelements I8 driven by a motor I9, as wel] '.jas anlunloading devicev indicated generally at L '2U byl means/of which material havingv been cutr up in vthe bow1canbe'scoope'd outeither toward thecenter or the outside ofthe bowl.` The worm I6 is driven from the motor-I9 through the belting arrangement indicatedgenerally at 2I and 22. i

A portion of the frame I0 of the machine in the region where the worm I6 is mounted is formed to provide la'trough 23. The trough is of such an extent that lubricant may be -sup- 'plied thereto, as shown at 24, and the worm dips into the lubricant during rotation.-

On the inside of the frame I0 immediately below the locus of the gear I5, I provide an inwardly extending gutter A25 which extends all the way around the machine underneath the annular gear I5, s'o that any lubricant dripping ofi the gear I5 may be 'caught in the gutter and returned to the trough I1.

VvIn order to insure that the gutter 25 will catch all the lubricantdripping oi the geary I5, I provide on the under side of said -gear immediately Ainward* of the root circle thereof a groove 26.

The purpose of the groove 26 is to provide a relatively sharp, downwardly extending edge 21, from which the lubricant can drip andk beyond which the lubricantA will not ow toward the center Iof the gear. not necessary to provide a groove so long as a relatively sharp downwardly extending lip 21 is provided. With the arrangement described, it is only necessary that the` gutter 25 extend inwardly beyond the lip 21 in order to insure that It will be clear that itis Y 3 al1 lubricant dripping from the gear Will be caught thereby.

If desired the gutter may be angularly disposed so that lubricant will flow by gravity toward the trough 23, but I have found this to be unnecessary because as long as the level of the oil or lubricant in the trough -23 is lower than the bottom of the gutter, substantially all oil or lubricant will ow back into the trough.

It will be lunderstood from the foregoing description that the particular machine to which ried' therein," and Van annular gear on said bowl ."bymeans of'whichsaid bowl'maybe driven, an

annular lip on the undersidev of said gear, a driving element for said gear, a lubricant trough disposed under said driving element, and 'an' annular gutter positionedat least under the lip portion ,.of A,said gear and communicating with said lubricantltrough to collect lubricant dripping off saidl annular lip and return it to said trough.

2. In a cutting machine having'a frame, a

` bo'wl rtatably carried therein,'and'an annular Worm gear on saidbowl for'driving the samein rotation, an annular lip'on the underside f said worm gear, a Worinfor 4driving said worm gear,

aV lubricant trough disposed under said wormfor maintaining a'body of. lubricantin contact with said wormjand'an .annular 'gutter' mounted on said frame and communicating VwithV said trough,

said fgutte'r being positioned at least 'under the `lip"`po r`tion of Ysaid"wormgear,'so as to catch 4 lubricant dripping from said Worm gear and return it to said trough.

3. In combination, a gear rotatable in a horizontal plane and having an annular lip on its underside, and a gutter extending annularly thereof at least under the lip portion of said gear, forcatching lubricant dripping from said gear.

4. A machine according to claim l, in which said annular gear is provided on its under side with anannularlip inwardly of the root circle "thereofyand in which said gutter extends inwardly from the fram-e beyond said annular lip.

'5. "Aimachine-a'ccbrding to claim 2, in which saidfannular worm gear is provided on its under side' withian annular lip inwardly of the root 'circle*thereof, and in which said gutter extends inwardly from the frame beyond said annular lip. y

6. The combinationiof claim 3, in which said gear is provdedwith anJv annular'ilip onits-under side inwardly of ltl'iefrci', circle thereof.

'7. The combination of-clairn 3,l in'which4H said gear isV provided with an'annular-groove providing anannular lip inwardly -of thef'r'oot circle thereof on its-under side.Y

FREDERICK-5A. ZAENKERT.

:REFERENCES `CITED The following references "are of 'record in Vthe Yiile of this patent:

UNITED sTATEs- PAT-Ems f 

